Friday Four Pack- Deep Wood Release #3 (Ryeway to Heaven, Maple Jacket, & Dark Mode) + Ten Year Beer
Posted by Andy Soukup on
Today, December 10th is the day Revolution drops the third batch of this year’s Deep Wood Series. On the eve of each release, Revolution holds preview parties throughout the Chicagoland area featuring not only the new releases, but also a smorgasbord of legacy Deep Wood beers that are always fun to revisit. As fate would have it, one of this round’s release parties was at Beerhead on Meacham Rd. in Schaumburg, IL. With over 50 beers on draft and single cans of all of Chicago’s newest releases, this has quickly become of one my favorite spots. So after we wrapped up the day Thursday, we scooted on over to Beerhead and saddled up to the bar. Here are our screaming hot takes on this round of releases.
Revolution Brewing- Ryeway to Heaven (15% ABV Barrel Aged Barley Wine)
Ryeway comes off the tap a lovely tree sap ruby red amber. The nose is soft, but we can pick up traces of American Oak and baking spice. On the palate, Ryeway is light bodied and dry, extremely dangerous at 15% ABV. The finish brings back some of the sweetness and finishes full of rye spice, oak, as well as hints of vanilla and caramel. The 2021 vintage is further confirmation that this beer is worthy of being revisited annually.
Revolution Brewing- Maple Jacket (14.4% ABV English Style Barelywine aged in Bourbon Barrels with Maple Syrup)
Released a few weeks back, Straight Jacket is Revolution’s core English Style Barleywine. We love Straightjacket and actually picked up (2) four packs for regular consumption. Not only is Straightjacket excellent, but it’s the base for a number of other fantastic beers, including VSOJ, Strawberry Jacket, Blackberry Finn, and now Maple Jacket.
Maple Jacket is co-created with Chicago Maple and rested for a year in freshly emptied maple syrup bourbon barrels before being sweetened with that same syrup prior to packaging. To the eye, it looks exactly like low viscosity maple syrup. On the nose, we get subtle amounts of maple, but also barley and some of that farmhouse funk. The mid-palate is sweet and full of maple, and the beer finishes with big vanilla, coconut, and molasses notes. How is this 14.4%?
Revolution Brewing- Dark Mode (13.8% ABV Barrel Aged Imperial Milk Stout)
Dark Mode was the most intriguing of this round of releases to be because it was the biggest departure from the core beers (Deth’s Tar, Straight Jacket, and Ryeway). I don’t rate beers here, but I do call out my “Wow” beers. This beer isn’t quite a “Wow” beer, but it’s close. Jet black with off white head, Dark Mode features a milk chocolate and coffee nose with soft hints of bourbon spirit. The mid plate is velvety smooth full of lactose and malt sugars. The finish is super complex- I get notes of dark chocolate, oak, coffee, and vanilla.
Revolution Brewing- 10 Year Beer (13.6% ABV Barrel Aged Barleywine with Cherries)
This is one of throwback beers we talked about in the introduction. Ten Year Beer was released back in 2020 (I think?) to mark Revolution’s 10 year anniversary. This beer is a Wow beer. Pouring a deep red-ish brown, I get a perfectly toasted Belgian waffle topped with Kerrygold butter and cherry maple syrup with cinnamon spice on the nose. Yea, step up your olfactory descriptors.
The palate is mouthing coatingly sweet, full of maple, vanilla, toffee, and caramel. The finish is a barrel forward wave of bourbon heat laced with cherry, vanilla, coconut, and oak. The barleywine to end all barleywines.
There’s our rundown of Revolution’s latest round of releases. If you’re in the area, head out to Revolution’s Kedzie Taproom and check these out, as well as all of the awesome variants. A Rev release part is always an awesome atmosphere. If you’re not in the area, email me and I’ll send you some cans. As always, we hope you enjoyed reading about these beers as much as we enjoyed drinking them. Cheers!